There are three different ways to soak seeds or flour: You can either cook them, or soak them in hot water or in cold water. For this bread I decided to soak the seeds in cold water. They do not absorb not as much water as when hot water is used, and this results in seeds which have still some bite. As the seeds have to soak overnight some salt is added to prevent them from fermenting.

Seeds in a dough can inhibit gluten development and so the soaker is added after ten minutes of kneading. The dough is firm at the beginning and will get softer when the soaker, which contains some free water as well, is added.

For a hearty flavour I bake this bread with some beer. It is a mild organic weiss beer, but you can start to experiment with different kinds of beers. A dark brew, for example, would bring the beer flavour forward and would yield in a very hearty bread.

I was asked to include a bagel recipe in my little course about bread baking and I was very willing to do so. Bagels are a good recipe for beginners as the dough is quite firm and not sticky at all. Kneading on the other hand can be a little work out because of the firm dough, too. But kneading a bagel dough is important to get a chewy bagel. So turn on some music and start kneading!

Another important point is boiling the bagels prior to baking. The longer you cook, the denser the bagel will become, as the proteins and starch on the outside of the bagel start already to set, preventing the bagel from rising to much in the oven. I like Bagel on the softer side, so I boil them for 30 seconds on each side. But play around with this time to get your personal perfect bagel! Continue reading →

To me, the basic of good breakfast is a good roll. And so we are baking rolls in part three of our little bread baking course. These rolls are looking more complicated then they. For shaping we will use the same method then for the bread we baked last time. And already after 15 minutes the rolls are deeply cut, which is much easier than cutting a fully proofed roll. The cut is carefully laid together and will open beautiful during baking.

For a good volume the recipe uses on the on hand some fat and the lecithin from egg yolk and on the other hand a good kneading. For kneading such a firm dough I knead like that: I press the dough with the heel of hands away from my body. Then I draw the dough back to my body with my fingers. While kneading you need patient because it takes 10 minutes to reach middle gluten development. So turn on some music and knead ahead. At the end the dough should is soft but not sticky.

On our way back home from the summer holidays we were greeted with a terrible thunderstorm as soon as we passed the border of North Rhine-Westphalia. We shortly whished to turn the car and drive back to the sunny Plön. But when we finally reached home I was happy to have my oven back. And it was like it would whisper: “Bake a bread!” And so I refreshed my sourdough and the next morning I looked through my baking cupboard to see what I could bake.

I found some Emmer, Rye and of course Wheat flour and so I decided to bake a three grain bread. To enhance the nutty flavour of the Emmer I made a paste from roasted sesame and poppy seeds. I did not add a big amount, only a little bit so it would not stand out but melt with the aroma of the grains.

A this makes a great bread, aromatic with a open crumb and a crisp crust. A perfect start into autumn.

My Dearest like the crusty rolls from the bakery which have a very soft and fluffy crumb. Such a crumb can not be archived without the use of at least some lecithin in the dough. But I do not want to use isolated lecithin and so I decided to use natural sources. Egg yolk and butter milk have both a high content of lecithin and the butter milk adds a good flavour as well.

The dough is made in the evening and rise overnight in the fridge. The next morning the rolls only has to be formed and baked. In about one and a half hour you have delicious warm rolls for breakfast!

Some month ago, my colleagues had the idea that I should asked the editorial stuff of our coworker journal if they would like to publish one of my recipes. After some very nice mails I started to develop a recipe. And because I’m working in the botanical institute I decided to bake rolls in form of flowers.

The dough follows my favourite principles: a little bit yeast and a long fermentation in the fridge, which helps to build a great flavour.

And for all who do not read the “Mituns” (which should be most of you), here is the recipe which is printed in the current issue:

Another Idea I brought home from our holidays in Alsac is to cover a baguette with poppy seeds or sesame. For the baking marathon last weekend I put the idea into practice and bake some Baguette au pavot (with poppy seeds) and Baguette au sesame (with sesame). After I formed the baguettes from my favourite dough with sweet starter (you can use this yeast dough Baguette, too) I wet their surface a little bit and turned them in sesame or poppy seeds. After proofing (according to the recipe) I slashed them lengthwise and baked them like written in the recipe,

The fragrance of the freshly baked baguettes were divine. And the taste were incredible, too.

When Temperature rise above 25°C you will always find a bottle with buttermilk in my fridge. I love this slightly sour and refreshing drink by its own or mixed with some lemon sorbet. And when I have buttermilk in the fridge, I tend to use it for bread baking as well.

My Buttermilk squares are rolls made with my favourite method of over night rising. The dough is mixed in the evening, with a very small amout of yeast, then it can rise over night on the kitchen counter. The next morning I fold the dough into a big square and cut small squares. After preheating the baking stone and proofing the oven, the rolls are slashed diagonal for an appealing look. After one and a half hour I can serve fresh rolls – still oven warm. Perfect for beautiful sunny summer sundays!

Why did I take so long until I publish this recipe? I don’t know. Sometimes, when I’m short in time, I note down the recipe and take a photo but do not blog it. And when time pass, the recipe vanish in the blog nirvana. And that’s what happend to this spent grain rolls recipe.

But luckily Alexandra asked me for a recipe for spent grain flour. And so I pulled out the recipe and freed it from dust.

And that is so good, because the rolls are delicious. The spent grain flour adds a nice roasted malt aroma to the slightly sour taste of the yoghurt and the long fermentation creates a complex taste.

Cinzia from Cindystar asked us to bake Bread with seeds and flakes for Bread Baking Day. When my mum asked me for a recipe for “Weltmeister-Brot” (Champions Bread) I knew directly that this would be perfect for this theme.

It is not clear, why this bread is called champions bread. Some Bakers from the german island Sylt claim that they invented it, while others connect it with the swabian soccer player Klinsmann, who is a baker by trade. I can only tell you, that I ate both champions bread and rolls first as a child in the 90th during our family holiday in East Frisia.

I saw the champions bread either baked in a tin or formed as a batard, but I like the batard more. But the recipe would work in a tin, too.

I like the bread very much, with its light and soft crumb and a thick, crunchy crust covered with a lot of seeds. That’s a bread I like!